|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
By Diana Chiyangwa
Johannesburg, South Africa: TalkAfrica contacted Melissa Munamati, and she confirmed that the claim about her death and her baby is false. This Facebook post, claiming that a young Zimbabwean woman and her baby died, is FALSE.
The post dated 28 April 2025, indicated that “Heart-breaking after a young pregnant Zimbabwean foreigner who came to South Africa to work was chased away when she wanted to give birth at Kalafong Hospital. She later died on the road with her kid.”
A video of a pregnant woman being denied access to maternal care at Kalafong Hospital in Pretoria by the Progressive Forces of South Africa went viral across social media platforms.
Through his Facebook post, the Founder of Great Hope Insurance, Moreboys Munetsi, reached out to his followers to help locate the pregnant woman, Melissa Munamati. He said “Ndokumbirawo kuti pane anokwanisa kuwana ma contact emudzimai uyu. Zvirikuita kunge vashandi vepachipatara. Chikumbiro changu ngatizamei kumubatsira as soon as possible.
It translates to “I am asking if there is anyone who can get me the contact information of this woman. It looks like these are hospital staff members. It’s my plea, let’s try and help, I am willing to do my part”.
On 26 April 2025, Munetsi confirmed he had seen Melissa. He posted a picture of himself posing with Melissa and captioned it “Ndafara kuvaona, ngativanamatirei mwana mukuru saka vachaitwa operation. Vanotenda nerudo rwenyu rwamakavaratidza”. The message translates to “I am happy to have seen her, let’s pray for her, the baby is big, so she will undergo caesarean section, and she is thankful for the love you showed to her”.
On 3 May 2025, Munetsi posted “Makorokoto Melissa anemwana auya nhasi,” which translates to “Congratulations, Melissa has given birth today.”
On 6 May 2025, Munetsi announced again on his Facebook post. He wrote, “We have breaking news for her, awanirwa nyasha newedenga iye hake haasati akuziva”. The message translates to “she receives mercy from the heavens, but she doesn’t know yet
In the same post, Munetsi uploaded a video of himself chatting with Melissa in the Shona language. He said to her, “One thing I like about Melissa, she’s always smiling. I want to thank God, and I thought I should come and see you, and one thing I want to tell you is that people love you wholeheartedly after we saw what happened to you.
We will be there for you and we will pray for you”. Melissa also responded by thanking everyone who wished her well. Melissa Munamati, narrated to TalkAfrica over a telephone conversation that she was heavily pregnant when she went to Kalafong Hospital to seek medical attention.
Upon arrival at the hospital, she was confronted by a group of women from a group called Progressive Forces of South Africa. They claim that Zimbabwean pregnant women are coming to South Africa to give birth and are burdening South Africa’s health system. The Gauteng Department of Health released a statement condemning the action by the group of women.
TalkAfrica has examined a Facebook post that Mellisa passed together with her baby and found it to be FALSE.
This fact-check was produced by TalkAfrica as part of the African Fact-Checking Alliance’s (AFCA) incubation programme. It was produced with peer-mentorship from Code for Africa’s fact-checking initiative, PesaCheck, with financial support from Norway. AFCA mentorship respects the journalistic independence of the researchers, offering access to advanced techniques and tools. Editorial decision-making remains with Name of Newsroom. Want to learn more? Visit: https://factcheck.africa/
